Refillable fuse-plug



H. SCHERIL.

REFILLABLE FUSE PLUG. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 1. 1919. 1,372,981.

0w IVTOR' JQAZLZ 9 W ATTORNEY PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY SGHERIL, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW "U. E. CORPORATION, OF YORK.

REFILLABLE FUSE-PLUG.

Application filed August 1', 1919.

T 0 all 10 ham it may concern:

Be it known thatI, HENRY SCHERIL, a-

I citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Newark, county of Essex, and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Refillable F use- Plugs, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

Fuse plugs, as made under old systems, were so constructed that when the fuse burned out it was necessary to throw the plug away and buy an entirely new one. This occasioned so much loss, trouble and expense that refillable fuse plugs were invented, various forms of which have for some years past been in general use; but all such as are now upon the market, so far as I know, are so constructed that upon the burning out of the fuse member, they can only be refilled with the special element or fuse member made for that particular plug and they can only be supplied by the manufacturer of the plug. Consequently, although it is usually the practice to sell a number of fuse members with each refillable plug, they frequently become lost or misplaced, so that when the fuse member. burns out, resort must be had to the electrical shops, and since few if any shops carry all makes of plugs and their accesssories, considerable searching for the necessary make of fuse member is sometimes necessary, and in many cases resort must be had to the manufacturer of the plug in question. Furthermore, as now constructed, the fuse members are held in the plug by thumb screws,

or other holding devices, which are themselves liable to be displaced or dropped during the disorganization and reorganizat on of the plug for the purpose of replacing the fuse member, and in some instances the parts require for their proper manipulation a degree of mechanical skill not always possessed by the users of the plugs.

Under my invention I avoid all of the objections above referred to and furnish a fuse plug which, as I believe, is by far the simplest, most durable and leastexpenslve of any fuse plug known and one that consists of a few simple, durable and inexpensive parts, not easily lost and capable of easy and speedy assemblage, and in which the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 29, 1921. Serial No. 314,654.

fuse element is simply a piece of ordinary stock fuse wire obtainable in any electrical shop throughout the country.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of a plug embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of that which is shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an elevation of the plug, the contact shell, the clamp and fuse wire being removed; Fig. is an elevation of one form of clamp, showing a piece of fuse wire clamped there- 1n; Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view of a modified construction.

In the drawings 1 represents the porcelain body part of the plug. It may be made of such size as preferred and of non-conducting material other than porcelain, if desired. 2 is an open interior space at the rear end of the body part. 3 is a circumferential reduced section made in the body part of the plug for a reason hereinafter stated. 4 is a continuation of the hollow end of the body part, as shown, and covers the rear ends of the openings 2 and 6. 9 is a metallic ternally and externally, so that it may thread on to the forward end of the body of the plug, as shown, and also thread into a plug socket, in a manner well understood.

cap of metal, or other" suitable materlal, which threads to the rear shell, which is threaded in-" 10 is a metallic clamp, preferably of brass.

It is in the form shown best in Figs. 2, 4 and 5. Its free ends 11, 11, form jaws, between which the fuse wire 12 is held when the clamp is pressed into the end 5 of the hollow space 4. The jaws are sufiicientl resilient to yield without distortion whi e being thrust into the hollow space 4 and the flattened end of the clamp 10 extends beyond the body of the plug and constitutes one of the contacts thereof. The fuse wire 12 extends from the jaws 11 of the clamp through the opening 4, is bent upon itself and its free end thrust through the opening 6, so that the elbow or bend 13 in,

, eration is obvious.

the wire may rest within the cavity 2, and its free forward end is then placed in that one ofthe grooves 7 which it most properly fits. I prefer to provide a series of these grooves of differing size, so as to accommodate fuse wires of different capacity, and so that a part of the wire shall project radially beyond the sides of the groove in which it is placed and thus make good contact with the threaded shell 9. Any excess in the length of the fuse wirewhich may project forwardly beyond the shell 9 should be removed. lVhen thus assembled the projecting end of the clamp 10, as stated above, is adapted to act as one of the plug contacts and the shell 9 in contact with the fuse wire on its interior and'with the socket on its exterior to act as the other contact.

I prefer to make the opening 6 through the body part of the plug only large enough to take the largest size of fuse wire, so that even if smaller wire be used, there will be relatively close fit between the wire and the sides of the hole. This tends to act as a snufler for the are as demonstration has proved. so that when the fuse is burned out through overloading or short circuiting, it has a tendency to burn inside of the plug and not at the point where it is attached to the shell 9.

In Figs. l'to 4: I illustrate the annular reduction 3 in the exterior surface of the plug. This somewhat simplifies the manufacture of the porcelain body part, but has the disadvantage that the fuse wire is exposed at this point, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. This is ordinarily of no consequence but in order that the fuse wire may be entirely inclosed, I sometimes omit the reduced portion 3, as shown in Fig. 5.

. From the foregoing description the op- The current passes in through either the terminal 9 or 10, as the case may be, and out through the other. In the event of overloading or short circuiting, which results in burning out the fuse wire. all that is necessary to refill the plug is to unscrew and remove the cap 8, unscrew and remove the shell 9, and pull out the clamp 10, whereupon the burnt out pieces of the fuse wire will drop away from the body of the plug and the clamp, or if not, may be readily removed therefrom. Thereupon one end of a new piece of wire is inserted between the jaws 11 of the clamp 10 and the jaws holding the wire are pressed into the end 5 of the opening 4, whereupon the jaws will be tightly closed and will firmly hold the wire. The free end of the wire is then, as stated, bent on itself and passed through the opening 6 and placed in such one of the grooves 7 as it may best fit. The shell 9 is then screwed in place covering the grooves and making good contact with the free end of the wire. The cap 8 isthen replaced,

whereupon the plug is in all respects the same as it originally was and is as good as new. socket.

It will be obvious to those who are familiar with such matters that modifications may be made in the details of construction and yet the-essentials of the invention be retained- I therefore do not limit myself to such details. v

I claim:

1. A refillable fuse plug comprising a non-conducting body part provided with two longitudinally extending and separated openings adapted to receive a fuse wire, a resilient clamp adapted to partially enter one end of one of said openings, a groove 1n the side of the body of the plug adapted to receive the fuse wire, and a shell adapted to engage with the body of the plug and cover said wire therein.

2. A refillable fuse plug comprising a non-conducting body part provided with two longitudinally extending adapted to receive fuse wire, a cap adapted to engage with the body part and cover the rearward ends of both of said openings and the wire thereat, a resilient clamp adapted,

to enter the forward end of one of said openings, a groove in the side of the body part of the plug adaptedto receive a fuse wire and a shell adapted to engage with the body of the plug and cover said groove and impinge upon the wire therein.

3. A refillable fuse plug comprising a non-conducting body part provided with a hollow space at its rear end, and two longitudinally extending openings adapted to receive fuse wire, the rear ends of both of said openings connecting with said hollow space, a resilient clamp adapted to enter the forward end of'one of said openings, a groove in the side of the body part of the plug adapted to receive a fuse wire, and a shell adapted to engage with the .body part of the plug and to entirely cover said groove and said wire forward of the forward end of said outer opening. I

4. A refillable fuse plug comprising a non-conducting body partprovided with a longitudinally extending opening adapted to receive a fuse wire, a clamp which constitutes oneof the contacts of the plug, the jaws whereof are adapted to close and hold end of said-opening, and means to? connect the free end of the fuse wire with the other contact of the plug.

5. A refillable fuse plug comprising a non-conducting body part provided with a longitudinally extending opening adapted to receive a fuse wire, a clamp the jaws whereof are adapted to enter and be closed by the forward end of said opening, the

It may then be screwed into the openings groove and impinge upon the the fuse wire upon their insertion in oneing in size and adapted to receive fuse wire of different size, a shell adapted'to thread to the body part and cover said grooves and the wire therein, and a clamp adapted to enter the end of the opening which extends to the forward end of the plug.

7 A refillable fuse plug comprising a non-conducting body part provided with two longitudinally extending openings adapted to receive fuse wire, the forward end of one of said openings extending to the forward end of the plug, a series of grooves in the body part of the plug differing in size and adapted to receive fuse wire, a shell adapted to thread to the body part and cover said grooves and the wire therein, a clamp adapted. to enter the end of the opening which extends to the forward end of the plug, and a cap for-the rear end of the plug which covers the rear ends of said openings and the wire thereat.

8. In a fuse plug a hollow body having a bottom and a side opening, a contact extending over the bottom opening and having a split stem extending into the latter, and a fuse extending through the side opening at one end and having its opposite end receivable in the split of the stem, the arms of the stem formed by said split being resilient, whereby upon insertion in the bot tom opening the arms will be moved by engagement with the walls defining said bottom opening to grip the respective opposite sides of said opposite end of the fuse.

9. In a fuse plug,'a bod having a side and a bottom opening, a use having one end extending through one of said openings, a contact for the other opening, and means on the contact for receiving the other end of the fuse and for automatically moving into gripping relation therewith upon insertion in said opening and engagement with the walls defining the opening so as to grip the respective opposite sides of said other end of the fuse.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

HENRY SCHERIL. 

